Hunter Valley's renewable energy transition accelerates with two new solar farms

Two new utility-scale solar farms in the Hunter Valley have received final approval and financing commitments, with a combined generating capacity of 800 megawatts that will take the Hunter region to approximately 35 per cent renewable electricity generation by the time both facilities reach full output.

The Muswellbrook Solar Farm and the Singleton Energy Park, totalling 400 megawatts each, are among the largest standalone solar developments in New South Wales and represent more than $1.4 billion in combined private investment. Both projects will connect to the existing high-voltage network at substations currently used by coal-fired generators, in an infrastructure reuse arrangement encouraged by the NSW government's Energy Security Safeguard framework.

NSW Energy Minister Penny Sharpe said the Hunter was emerging as a national model for managed coal-to-clean transitions, with the region's grid infrastructure, transmission connections, and skilled workforce providing a platform that other fossil-fuel-dependent regions lacked. "No region in Australia is better placed to lead the clean energy transition, and no region is demonstrating leadership more clearly," she said.

Hunter Jobs Alliance executive officer Ronnie Morris said it was critical that the workforce transition accompanying the solar expansion delivered employment for former coal workers on comparable wages and conditions. She noted that both projects had signed agreements with the Electrical Trades Union and the CFMEU requiring local and transitioning worker preferences in their workforce plans.

Construction on both sites will begin in the new year, with the first power flowing into the grid expected by mid-2027.

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